Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 63, NWS Topeka, KS

May 6, 1986Jackson County, Nemaha County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 6, 1986, 10:37 PM CDT for Jackson County, Nemaha County, Kansas. It was in force for 83 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 6, 1986, 10:37 PM CDT (03:37 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 1986, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
83 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jackson County, KS, Nemaha County, KS

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 6, 10:55 PM CDTHail 0.75Nemaha, KS

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 71 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1986-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3023 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1986-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
3023 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1120 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 070337
SVRTOP
KSC131-085-070500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1037 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1200 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST KANSAS...NEMAHA AND JACKSON

AT 1025 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND POLICE REPORTED
GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL IN NEMAHNA COUNTY 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF SENECA.
THE STORM WAS IN A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT WAS MOVING SOUTH INTO
NORTHEAST KANSAS. AS THIS NEW LINE OF STORMS MOVES INTO SOUTHEAST
KANSAS AND COLLIDES WITH THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX ALREADY IN
PROGRESS NEW DEVELOPEMENT CAN BE EXPECTED.
     ******* FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS *******

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.
DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE LIKELY.

THIS STORM MAY PRODUCE WINDS THAT CAN CAUSE DAMAGE NEARLY AS SEVERE
AS THAT CAUSED BY TORNADOES.  IT IS WISE TO TAKE SHELTER FROM THIS
STORM JUST AS YOU WOULD FROM A TORNADO.

 SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WARNINGS CONTINUE IN EFFECT FOR GEARY..
 POTTAWATOMIE..MARSHALL..AND NORTWEST WABAUNSEE COUNTIES UNTIL 1130
 PM CDT.

HEATHFIELD

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 6, 7:38 PM CDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
735 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 1986

AT 735 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IN CENTRAL
AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.  A THUNDERSTORM WITH >HEAVY RAIN WAS
LOCATED 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ABILENE IN CENTRAL KANSAS AND
30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CONCORDIA IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH AT 20 MPH.
PETERSEN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 7:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary46 min
May 6, 8:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay, Dickinson40 min
May 6, 8:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPPottawatomie, Riley87 min
May 6, 8:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson46 min
May 6, 8:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary, Morris65 min
May 6, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay, Dickinson60 min
May 6, 9:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall, Pottawatomie, Riley99 min
May 6, 9:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary99 min
May 6, 10:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPPottawatomie, Wabaunsee72 min
May 6, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay63 min
May 6, 10:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson48 min
May 6, 11:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPShawnee, Wabaunsee59 min
May 6, 11:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall, Nemaha52 min
May 6, 11:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay, Dickinson60 min
May 6, 11:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPAtchison, Jefferson64 min
May 7, 1:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRepublic55 min
May 7, 2:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRepublic, Washington53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.